Showing Your Appreciation for Waiters
When we look for restaurants to visit on those nights where we just don’t fancy cooking, there are a few factors that we consider. However, did you know that most people place a greater emphasis on customer service than they do on the food? At first, this is a little surprising but when you really think about it, we do crave that personal touch in every service we require in life. If you regularly frequent a restaurant just because of the customer service, there are a few things you can do to show your appreciation.
Remain Polite – Starting with the most basic tip and something that is ingrained in most of us from a very early age, always be polite to your server. Whether it is a please, thank you, or even just a smile as they bring your food, your server will appreciate it and you will both enjoy your evening that little bit more.
Learn Their Name – If you don’t know the name of the server, it can get a little awkward when trying to call them over – do you wave at them, make a random noise, or what are you supposed to do? With most restaurants these days, they tell the waiters to give their names so you just need to remember it and use it when needed. When you get to thank your server by their name, it shows that you have taken the effort to enjoy the experience and it will put a smile on their face. If you were to say ‘excuse me, Jonathan’, doesn’t that sound much better than ‘excuse me, waiter’ or whistling at them in some way?
Let Them Do Their Job – Often, waiters will have their own system for clearing as many plates in one go as possible. When you intervene and hand the plate over, you potentially disrupt their flow and make it a little tricky. Therefore, you are best just letting them get to work to prevent several plates ending up on the floor!
Do Not Substitute – Remember, a menu is a carefully designed piece of art for the chef. If you ask for numerous substitutions, it can sometimes come across as being rude for both the waiter and the chef. Not only are you making the waiter’s job more difficult, you are essentially saying that you can’t find anything on the menu that you will enjoy as is so you have to create your own meal.
Leave on Time – As much as the waiters might be enjoying your custom, you should also appreciate that they also want to go home, have their own dinner, or just go to bed after a long day. After you have gone, there are probably still a number of jobs to be completed before they can go home so be appreciative if they are about to close.
Even if it is still early in the night, staying with empty cups of coffee for a couple of hours can be really damaging for waiters because they could have served another group of people in this time and increased the tips they earn in a single night. Seeing as though most waiters rely on tips for extra income, this is important to keep in mind. Of course, they don’t want your fun to end so why not invite your guests back to yours for a coffee or even move your conversation up to the bar so that another table can sit down for food?
Don’t Shoot the Messenger – Despite the chefs being the ones cooking their food, sadly some people think it is perfectly fine to shout at waiters but this is completely unfair – it would be like shouting at a delivery driver for the contents of the package being wrong. If your steak isn’t cooked right, this is the responsibility of the chef and potentially the person in control of the line if they gave it the go-ahead. There is no reason why you can’t be disappointed with your food, but please don’t misdirect this at the people who are trying to make your evening the best it can be!
Be Efficient with Space – With most restaurants, space is fairly limited so our next suggestion is to keep your party tucked in nicely without blocking the walkways. As well as preventing a risk when evacuating due to a fire, this may also cause a waiter to spill drinks or food so keep all coats and bags under the table and out of the way.
Tip Generously – As you have seen so far, there are plenty of things you can do to show your appreciation of the waiter that doesn’t involve money. However, money is what waiters work for so a generous tips will always go down well. Across the US, around 15-20% is considered average so try going a little above this to make their day and show them that you liked the service. When you visit again, the service will be just as good if not a little bit better.
Write a Note – If you don’t have any extra money, why not tell them that you thought they were great in a note? Recently, there has been many examples of this type of kindness going viral and it is something the server can keep for motivation. Although it takes just moments to write, the good feeling it provides will last for a lot longer so consider this if you want to go above and beyond.
Request a Particular Server – Finally, this is a great one that you can do if you are a regular visitor to a particular restaurant. When you walk in, ask whether your favorite waiter is working and use their name. Even if you have to ask a different waiter, they won’t be offended because they will probably have guests that ask for them on different days. If they are working, you can have them serve you again. If not, it can be a great way to meet someone new and judge whether your favorite is a one-off or whether the restaurant just has a very good training program in place.
Over time, you can build trust and respect with one waiter and it can actually turn into a friendship. In truth, most restaurants will have certain customers that only come in just to see the waiter and some rare stories we see on the internet these days even see them keep touch after the waiter leaves the restaurant. When you get to know a waiter, anything can happen. At the very least, they will be more willing to adhere to any requests you have and help to make your dining experience an enjoyable one.
Summary – There we have it, some fantastic tips you can use to show your appreciation for your waiter. Although some involve money, there are also plenty that don’t and these make for great ways to show your appreciation. When somebody goes above and beyond their call of duty, they deserve to be rewarded and you can utilize one of these tips to do exactly this. Since customers expect to be treated with respect, it can feel good to reciprocate this just out of pure kindness and admiration for superb workers!